Valentine's Day
by Rirureddo
Summary: One year after experiencing the most horrible heartbreak in her life, Rouge The Bat decides to spend Valentine's Day with her best friend Shadow The Hedgehog.


_**~Valentine's Day~**_

It was a bright and beautiful day as the sun rose over Station Square. At Club Rouge, Rouge the Bat was sleeping peacefully before she heard her alarm clock go off. She awoke and looked lazily at her clock showing that it was 9:00 AM. She pressed the button on top of the clock to stop the alarm and got out of bed. She stretched out her body, unraveling her wings in the process. Afterwards, she walked over to her calendar and looked to see what day it was. She looked away from her calendar before she did a double-take and looked at it again.

Her ears drooped a little bit as she said in a disheartened voice, "It's Valentine's Day."

As far back as Rouge could remember, Valentine's Day had always been her favorite day of the year. That is until last year when her ex-boyfriend Knuckles the Echidna had broken her heart right in front of her. She sat down at the foot of her bed as she recalled that horrible day in her head.

* * *

_**~Flashback – 1 Year Ago~**_

_Rouge arrived at her boyfriend Knuckles' house with a smile on her face that was so bright that it would put the sun to shame. In her hands she held a neatly wrapped box which contained a Valentine's Day card and gift that she made herself. Rouge began to blush as she thought of the look on her boyfriend's face when he saw the photo album filled with pictures of the two of them. _

_"Oh, I hope that Knuckie likes my gift." _

_She walked up to the front door of Knuckles house and noticed that the door was open. _

_"Hmm, he must be expecting me," Rouge thought in her head. _

_She did call Knuckles earlier and let him know that she was coming by. A smirk appeared on her face as she thought of what her boyfriend probably had planned for her. She opened the door and walked inside of the house. She closed the door behind her and made her way into the living room. There was no sight of Knuckles anywhere but she did notice a champagne bottle and two cups sitting a on the table. _

_She smiled to herself and thought, "Aww, how sweet!" _

_She then began to wonder where her boyfriend was and she thought that he may be in his room. _

_She giggled and said in a seductive voice, "I'll just go in and surprise him. Then maybe later, I can give him an even bigger surprise…" _

_Rouge made her way up the stairs to Knuckles' bedroom and was about to knock on the door until she heard something coming from the other side of the door. She listened more closely and realized the sound was moaning. Coming from a male AND female. _

_Rouge started to slightly shake and kept saying to herself, "Oh God, please don't let this be happening. Please don't let this be happening." _

_Gathering every ounce of courage she put her hand on the knob of the door and noticed that it wasn't locked. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and was shocked beyond belief to what she saw. There on the bed was her boyfriend Knuckles having sex with a female cat. Rouge was too shocked to say or do anything. Her breath got caught in her throat and she began backing up as tears started coming to her eyes. She backed up into a wall and dropped her gift on the floor. The sound of the gift hitting the floor caused Knuckles and the cat to stop what they were doing and looked in the direction that the sound came from. As he saw Rouge Knuckles' eyes widened and all the color drained from his face. He quickly got off of the cat and attempted to cover himself. He started to step towards Rouge. "_

_Rouge, baby I'm so…," _

_Rouge didn't let him finish his sentence as she yelled as loud as she could, "YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" _

_After she said that she took off running down the stairs and out of the house, tears running freely from her eyes. She got into her car, started the engine, and sped away from Knuckles' house as fast as she could. _

_She looked in the rearview mirror and said under her breath in a heartbroken voice, "That no-good cheating bastard…"_

_**~End Flashback~**_

* * *

Rouge put her hand to her face and realized that she had been crying. She wiped her face, stood up and walked into her bathroom. She washed her face and took a few moments to collect herself. She has continuously thought back to that day over the past year and it tore her apart every time she thought of it. She really did try to get over it and move on with her life but it was real difficult for her to do. Knuckles was the only boy that she had every truly loved and he went and broke her heart the way he did. Rouge shook the thoughts from her head and decided to take a quick shower.

After she finished she dried off her body with a towel and put on one of her rather revealing robes which stopped about halfway down her thighs and showed off a little bit off cleavage. Afterwards she left her room and began walking down the hallway until she heard loud snoring coming from the guestroom. She opened the door slightly and peeked her head in the room and giggled at what she saw. Lying on the bed in the guestroom was her best friend Shadow the Hedgehog, who the previous night had decided to spend the night at her house after they spent the day hanging out with each other. He was tangled up in the covers and snoring rather loudly. Rouge stepped into the room and walked up to Shadow and couldn't help but smile at the sleeping hedgehog.

She and Shadow have been best friends practically forever and have been through everything together. She remembered after she caught Knuckles cheating on her one year ago Shadow was the person that she went to. After telling him about what she had seen at Knuckles' house Shadow had took her into his arms and held her as she cried her heart out. He repeatedly told her that everything would be alright and he continued to comfort her until she got all of the crying out of her system. To cheer her up Shadow had decided to take her out on what he called "a best friends get-away." The two of them hung out with each other for the rest of that day and Rouge was grateful to Shadow for what he had done for her.

She kneeled down to the sleeping hedgehog and put her hand on his cheek and gave him a tender kiss on his forehead. Shadow stirred in his sleep for a second before he opened his ruby-colored eyes and was met with Rouge's face smiling at him.

Shadow smiled back and said, "Good morning Sunshine."

Rouge smiled and blushed a bit at the nickname he had for her and replied, "Good morning yourself."

Shadow sat up in the bed and stretched out. He looked over to Rouge and asked her, "What time is it."

"Just a little past 9:30," said Rouge as she sat down beside Shadow.

Shadow nodded to her and then looked as if he remembered something. Rouge watched him as he leaned over and pulled something from underneath the bed. As he sat back up straight she saw that he had an envelope in his hand.

With a smile on his face he handed it to her and said, "Happy Valentine's Day Rouge."

Rouge felt her heart leap as she took the envelope and said, "Aww, thank you Shady!"

Shadow felt himself blush as she called him by the pet name she had for him. Rouge opened the envelope and inside of it was a Valentine's Day card. She opened it up and inside of it was a poem which read:

* * *

_A Special World_

A special world for you and me  
A special bond one cannot see  
It wraps us up in its cocoon  
And holds us fiercely in its womb.

Its fingers spread like fine spun gold  
Gently nestling us to the fold  
Like silken thread it holds us fast  
Bonds like this are meant to last.

And though at times a thread may break  
A new one forms in its wake  
To bind us closer and keep us strong  
In a special world, where we belong.

_Rouge, I love you, always & forever._

_Your Best Friend, Shady_

* * *

Rouge felt tears coming to her eyes as she finished reading the poem. She threw her arms around Shadow and hugged as she cried, "Thank you! Thank you so much Shady!"

Shadow wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back while saying, "You're welcome Sunshine."

The two best friends sat there holding each other for a little while before Rouge pulled back from him and said with a saddened tone, "But I didn't get anything for you."

Shadow simply smiled and said, "That's ok Rouge. You didn't have to get or do anything for me. Simply having you in my life as my best friend is the greatest gift you could ever give to me."

Rouge blushed and gave Shadow another quick hug and stood up. As she did she said, "Well that's a shame. Because I was going to fix you a big breakfast, but since you said I don't have to do anything for you…,"

Shadow immediately shot out of bed as soon as he heard her say the word "breakfast." He absolutely LOVED Rouge's cooking. "On second thought," he began, "I'll take you up on that offer."

Rouge laughed and said, "Yeah, I thought that you would change your mind."

Shadow chuckled and said, "Hey, you know me. I can never turn down your cooking."

Rouge smiled and said, "Well, I'll give you some time to get up and get ready. In the meantime, I'll be downstairs getting breakfast ready."

Shadow nodded at her and said, "Ok. I'll be down soon."

Rouge then stood up and began to walk out of the room. When she got to the doorway she turned back to Shadow and called out to him. "Shady?"

Shadow turned to her as she continued.

"Thank you so much for the card. That was really sweet of you."

Then she blew him a kiss. Shadow reached out his hand as if to catch the kiss and then placed his hand over his cheek while smiling at her. Rouge smiled back and left the room and made her way downstairs to the kitchen.

* * *

About one hour later Shadow came down the stairs wearing black jeans and a white tank top. His nose caught the smell of something delicious and he followed the smell which led him to the kitchen. As he walked inside he saw that the kitchen table was filled with eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, and toast. As he marveled at the food on the table, Rouge walked into the kitchen wearing blue hip-hugger jeans and a black tube top.

Shadow let out a whistle as he saw her and said, "Wow! Looking good there, Rouge."

Rouge smiled and said, "Thank you. You're looking pretty good yourself."

Shadow gave her a smile back and before he sat down he walked over to her and pulled out her chair so that she could sit down.

"Aww, thank you Shadow," said Rouge as she sat down.

"No problem," replied Shadow as he sat down himself. Afterwards the two of them enjoyed a great breakfast, much to the delight of Shadow. When they finished cleaning up the kitchen Shadow suggested that the two of them go out and hang out for the day, to which Rouge happily obliged.

As the two of them walked out of Rouge's house, Rouge asked him, "So Shady, what are we going to do today?"

Shadow smiled and said, "What we do every time we go out. We're going to wild out, have fun, and paint the town red!"

Rouge smiled, looped her arm with Shadow's, and said, "Well, what are we waiting for! Let's go have fun!"

* * *

And have fun they did! First they went to the movies, then afterwards they went out to eat, then they went to the mall and did a little window-shopping. (Well, actually Rouge was the one who did most of the window-shopping.) While at the mall Rouge told Shadow that she wanted to go inside the clothes store and look around for a bit. Shadow nodded his head and told her that he would wait for her outside of the store. Rouge gave him a quick hug and went inside the store. While inside she saw alotof clothes that she thought would look great on her, as well as many that would look good on Shadow.

_'I have to remember to bring him in here with me next time,'_ she thought to herself.

As she began to walk down another asile of clothing, she completely froze in her tracks. Just a few feet in front of her stood a person who she hasn't seen in a year. A person who she never wanted to see again. A person who had betrayed her.

Knuckles the Echidna.

Rouge at first didn't know what to do. She just stood there unmoving until memories of that day one year ago began to consume her and fill her heart with anger and sadness. She decided to leave before he saw her. As she turned to walk away she heard her name being called out.

"Rouge? Rouge, is that you?"

Rouge stepped in her tracks after hearing his voice. A voice that she thought she would never hear again. With her back turned to him she could feel his presence as he walked up to her.

"Wow Rouge. Its, um, its been a while since we've seen each other. How have you been?"

Rouge almost couldn't believe that he was asking her that question. _'You break my heart exactly one year ago today and you have the nerve to ask me how have i been? How the hell do you think I feel!'_

Instead of saying that, Rouge, with her back still turned to him, simply said, "I've been fine."

Knuckles nodded and said, "That's good. It's really good to see you again. I didn't expect to run into you today."

Rouge sighed and closed her eyes. _'Believe me, I wasn't expecting to see you either.'_

Knuckles walked in front of her so that the two of them could have eye contact. "Listen Rouge," he began. "I'm really sorry for what I did to you last year. I've been trying to get in contact with you every chance I got for the past year to apologize to you. I should have never cheated on you like that. I made a huge mistake and I've learned from it."

Rouge looked into his eyes as she listened to him apologize. She couldn't tell if he was being sincere or not.

"I know that you won't take me back and I'm not asking you to. I just wanted to tell that I'm sorry for what I did to you and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

Rouge was silent for a couple of seconds. She didn't know what she should do. Here was the boy that at one point she trusted with every part of her being and who exactly one year ago today had completely betrayed her. Part of her was thinking, _'Why the hell am i even listening to this good-for-nothing bastard?'_ and she wanted to just haul off and go off on him for all the pain he had put her through. But another part of her actually felt that his apology was true and from the heart and wanted to forgive Knuckles.

After a couple more seconds Rouge took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Knuckles, I don't think that you will ever truly understand what I have been through this past year. Not a day has gone by that I don't think about what you did to me. I put all of my trust in you and you betrayed me in the worst way that a person can. I haven't even gotten into another relationship because I'm scared that the next boyfriend I have will do to me the same exact thing that you did."

She stopped for a second before continuing. "And I've tried. Believe me, I've tried to get over what you did to me and move on with my life but I can't. It's there. It's always there. Whenever I try to get close with another man, the fear and sadness that you left in my heart is there. Even when I try to get closer with Sha...,"

Rouge stopped herself from saying anything more. She cleared her throat and regained her composure before she continued to talk.

"Knuckles, the bottom line is what you did to me has left me hollow and empty. It may not show but trust me when i tell you it is there."

Knuckles looked down at the floor as Rouge's words began to sink in. He never realized until this moment how much his mistake had truly hurt Rouge. He looked up at her with his violet eyes.

"So I guess this means you won't accept my apology?"

Rouge simply shook her head and said, "No Knuckles. I can't. At this point I just can't. I appreciate you telling me that you're sorry and who knows? Maybe someday in the future I may be able to find it in my heart to forgive you. But right now I can't."

Knuckles gave her a slightly disappointed look and said, "Ok. I respect your decision."

Rouge nodded her head and said, "Well I have to go. Shadow is outside waiting on me."

Knuckles then said, "Oh Shadow is here?"

Rouge nodded and Knuckles said, "Well I guess that I'll see you around some time Rouge. It really was good seeing you again Rouge."

Rouge nodded and as she started to leave the store she said to herself, _'I wish I could say the same about seeing you.'_

After making her way out of the clothing store Rouge spotted Shadow sitting on a bench patiently waiting for her. He looked up, saw her walking towards him and said, "Wow, you certainly took you're sweet time."

Rouge laughed and said, "Yeah, sorry to keep you waiting."

Shadow shook his head and said as he stood up, "No, its ok. I know from experience that whenever you are in a clothing store or jewelry store you just can't help yourself. You just HAVE to check out every single thing that you like."

Rouge giggled and looped her arm with his and said, "You know me too well Shady. So where do you want to take me now?"

Shadow thought for a second and said, "How about we got the park and hang out there for awhile?"

Rouge nodded and said, "Sounds good to me!"

* * *

After arriving at the park Shadow and Rouge decided that they would go play on the swings first. Rouge sat down on one of the swings and Shadow started to push her. She started to laugh as Shadow began pushing her higher and higher. As she reached the peak of the last push Rouge jump out of the swing and did a back-flip before landing perfectly on her feet like a gymnast. Shadow began clapping for her and she blushed in return. After hanging out in the park for a little while longer, Rouge noticed that the sun was setting. She looked at her cell phone and it read 8:58 PM.

Then she said to Shadow, "It's almost 9:00 Shady."

Shadow looked at his own cell phone and said, "Wow, time really does fly when you're having fun."

Rouge nodded and said, "Well how bout we call it a day and head back to my place?"

Shadow nodded back and said, "Sure."

* * *

When the two of them made it back to Rouge's house, the two of walked inside and Shadow plopped down on the sofa and said, "Wow what a day! Did you enjoy yourself Rouge?"

Rouge nodded and said, "Yes I did, thanks to you. At first I thought that today was going to be a complete drag. You know, because of what happened last year. I didn't think that I was going to have anyone to celebrate Valentine's Day with."

She walked over and sat down next to Shadow. "But you changed that Shadow. You made me the happiest girl in the world with everything that you did for me today. And you did it because you wanted to, not because you felt that you needed to or had to. And I want to thank you for that Shady. Thank you so much for everything you did for me."

Shadow leaned over to Rouge and gave her hug and told her, "You're welcome Rouge. It was all for you. I didn't want you to go through the same thing you did last year. I wanted you to be happy as you deserve to be on such a wonderful day as today."

Rouge smiled at him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before getting up. "Thank you again Shadow. I'll be right back. I'm just going to go freshen up a bit."

Shadow leaned back on the sofa and said, "Go ahead and take your time. I'm just going to chill out down here for a little while."

Rouge nodded at him and made her way up the stairs, still thinking about the great day that she had. Shadow turned back towards the stairs and waited for her to go in her room.

As he heard her door open and close, Shadow thought to himself, _'This day's not over yet. I'm going to make sure that this is a Valentine's Day that Rouge never forgets.'_

* * *

Sometime later, Rouge came back down the stairs wearing another one of her revealing robes. As she reached the bottom of the stairs and walked into the living room, she began to say, "Hey Shadow, I was just coming to see what you were…,"

She never finished her sentence. As she reached the bottom step and looked into her living room she was at a loss for words. Her entire living room was covered with rose petals and lit candles.

Rouge put a hand up to her mouth and said in a soft voice, "Oh my God…"

She looked and saw Shadow standing with his back turned to her. When he heard her voice he turned to her and gave her the most sincere smile she had ever seen. She also noticed that music was playing from the stereo she had in the living room. She noticed the song was "Slow Jam," her and Shadow's favorite song.

Then he walked up to her and took her hands in his and said, "Valentine's Day isn't over yet."

Rouge looked up into Shadow's blood-red eyes and became lost in them. Then he said, "I have a gift for you."

After finally finding her voice again, Rouge said, "But you've already given me a gift."

"That was just part one of your full gift," said Shadow as he reached into his pants pocket. "And this is part two."

With that said he pulled a small rectangular box out of his pocket. Rouge was once again speechless as she wondered what could be in the box. Shadow then told her to turn around and close her eyes, which she did. With her eyes closed, Rouge felt Shadow drape something around her neck. A second later she heard him say, "Ok. You can open them now."

Rouge opened her eyes and looked down and saw the most beautiful diamond necklace she had ever seen in her life. She looked back up at Shadow and asked him, "Shadow, this is so beautiful. Where on earth did you get this?"

Shadow smiled at her and said, "Well, remember while we were at the mall and you were in that clothing store for a long time?"

Rouge nodded. "Well, I swung by that jewelry store that was right next door and wanted to get something for you. I spotted that diamond necklace and it instantly reminded me of your beautiful eyes. And I just knew that I had to get it for you. So do you like it?"

Rouge looked at the necklace once more and said breathlessly, "I absolutely love it Shadow."

Shadow smiled and said, "I'm glad that you do. Well that was part two of your gift. Now here's part 3."

He held his hand out to her and asked her, "May I have this dance, my lady?"

Rouge simply looked into Shadow's eyes once more and nodded her head. Shadow led her to the middle of the living room and he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. Rouge in return wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. Then they began to move to the beat of the music. As they danced, Shadow leaned over to her ear and began to sing the song to her.

_I was all alone,  
I was feelin rather low,  
I needed someone to, lift my spirits up_  
_So I dropped in on a dance, just to take a glance  
And there this lovely thing was, she was more than enough  
I asked her for her hand  
Said would you like to dance?  
So pleased that I had asked, she quickly took my hand  
And we danced and fell in love, on a slow jam...Ohhhhhh_

_Play another slow jam, this time make it sweet  
On a slow jam, for my baby and, me yeah  
Play another slow jam, this time make it sweet  
On a slow jam, for my baby and for me yeah_

Rouge let out a content sigh and held on to Shadow tighter. She had never felt like this before in her life, even when she was with Knuckles. She leaned up to Shadow's ear and sang the next part of the song to him.

_Seems what you say is true, I feel the same way too  
See I've waited all night long, just to dance with you  
And when you touched my hand, I knew you were the man  
To turn my world around, and make my, dreams come true  
The magic in your eyes, made me realize  
That everything I feel, has got to be real  
And we danced and fell in love, on a slow jam_

_Play another slow jam, this time make it sweet  
On a slow jam, for me and, my baby yeah  
Play another slow jam, this time make it sweet  
On a slow jam, for my baby and for me yeah_

Shadow pulled Rouge closer to him and held on to her as if letting her go would mean the wnd of the world. He had always held special feelings for his best friend, and tonight, all of those feelings were starting to come out. He sang the next part to her.

_I've been tryna find someone who  
I could give my good lovin to  
Never ever did I dream I'd find someone..yeah_

Then Rouge sang the next part to him.

_I've been trying to find someone too  
I prayed to heaven, and then I found you_

Then they started singing together.

_I swear I fell in love the night you...danced into my heart_

_Play another slow jam, this time make it sweet  
On a slow jam, Can I get a get a slow jam  
Do you want a slow jam?_

_Play another slow jam, this time make it sweet  
On a slow jam, Can I get a slow slow jam?  
Play another slow jam  
Are you gonna slow jam?_

As the song came to an end, Shadow and Rouge looked at each other and started to become lost in the other's eyes. Shadow also couldn't help but notice that Rouge looked absolutely gorgeous by candlelight. Rouge also noticed for the first time how attractive Shadow really was.

"Rouge, " said Shadow as he started to lean in towards her. "You are so beautiful."

Blushing, Rouge began to lean towards him as well as she said, "Thank you. You're really handsome too."

They kept leaning toward each other until their lips met in a sweet and tender kiss. All of the feelings the two best friends held for each other came out with this one kiss. Rouge put her hands on the sides of Shadow's face and deepened the kiss by sliding her tongue in his mouth. Shadow responded by bringing his hands down to her ass and running his tongue across hers. Rouge moaned into Shadow's mouth as she felt him gently grab her ass. She in return started to kiss Shadow more aggressively, which Shadow responded to almost ten-fold. The two of them fell down on the sofa and continued to make out with and touch each other for a while before the need for air became too great and they reluctantly broke apart. Rouge was the first to find her voice.

"Wow…that was just…wow…"

Shadow simply nodded his head and said, "I agree."

Rouge laid her head on Shadow's chest and said, "So where do we go from here?"

Shadow held her close and told her, "Well I have a question that I've been meaning to ask you for a long time now."

Rouge then said out of nowhere, "Yes, I will."

Shadow looked at her with a puzzled look and said, "Huh?"

Rouge giggled and said, "Yes, Shadow. I will be your girlfriend."

Shadow's look went from puzzled to being shocked. "How did you know I was going to ask you that?"

Rouge gave Shadow a quick peck on his lips before saying, "Shady, you know that I've always been able to read you like a book. I could tell that you had SOMETHING that you wanted to ask me. I just didn't know what that SOMETHING was. That is until tonight, when it became obvious. And just so you know, I've felt the same way about you for as long as I can remember. Even when I was with Knuckles I always knew that deep in my heart he wasn't the man for me. You were. You always were. I love you, Shadow the Hedgehog. I always have."

Shadow felt tears building in his eyes as he said, "I love you too Rouge the Bat. I've loved you with every part of mind, body, spirit, and heart ever since I first laid eyes on you. I knew from that moment that you and only you were the girl for me."

Rouge smiled beautifully at him before giving him another passionate kiss. After pulling apart from him she said, "What do you say we call it a night?"

Shadow agreed and the two of them stood up and began to blow out the candles. Afterwards the two of them walked up the stairs, hand in hand. As they passed by the guestroom, Shadow began to walk inside before Rouge stopped him. He looked at her and saw that she was giving him a very seductive look.

"You can sleep with me tonight," she said while looping her arm with his.

Shadow smiled at her and continued to walk with her until they reached her room. They went inside and closed the door behind them. They walked over to the bed and Rouge pulled the covers back and she and Shadow both climbed into the bed and she put the covers over them. She then cuddled up to Shadow and laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arm around his waist. Shadow, in return, wrapped his arm around her body and held her.

Rouge sighed contently and said, "This has been the best day of my life."

Shadow replied with a smile on his face, "Mine too."

Shadow then began to think about how perfect his life was now that he had the girl of his dreams in his arms with him. After all of the hardships he had gone through in his life he was finally truly happy.

He then looked down at the beautiful girl lying in his arms and said to her, "I love you Rouge."

When she didn't respond he realized that she had fallen asleep when he heard her quiet but audible snoring. Shadow smiled, let out a soft chuckle, and gave Rouge a tender kiss on her forehead before drifting off to sleep himself.

In her sleep, Rouge cuddled up closer to Shadow and whispered, "I love you too Shadow."

_**~The End~**_

* * *

_**~Author's Note~**_

_**The song that Shadow and Rouge were dancing to was "Slow Jam" by Usher feat. Monica. I've also made a slideshow dedicated to them using that song. Its on my Youtube Channel. You can find the link there on my profile page. Feel free to check it out! And the poem in the Valentine's Day card was "A Special World" by Sheelagh Lennon.**_


End file.
